What are you staring at?
by kitkat3
Summary: Hi! I'm back from my hols and heres the next chapter! It's a bit short so - soz. Anyway in this chapter it's time for a tew explanations. Enjoy! r/r PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
1. Default Chapter

  
p align="center" WHAT ARE YOU STARTING AT?!   
p  
  
A/N : Okay, this is my very first fanfic, so be kind. I'd like to thank Addy, Sulia and Saphron for Beta reading this for me. You're the best guys! Anyway, pleeeeeeeease  
review! I hope you like it!/p  
p Disclaimer: Only Krissy and her scumbag Dad are mine. The rest belong to that incredible goddess Tamora Pierce./p  
p Krissy flinched as the hand whacked into her face. The skull shaped ring dug into the soft flesh of her cheek. She knew from experience that it would leave a deep mark to go with her collection of  
bruises/p  
p"Stop sniveling, you little tramp!" the angry man in front of her yelled, right down Krissy's ear, making her wince  
again./p  
p" Please Dad," she whispered " I'm sorry. I won't do it again." * I hate him! I hate him! Why won't he leave me alone!*  
she thought angrily. /p  
p  
" You're right you won't do it again." he snarled, " Now get out of my sight!" /p  
p  
Krissy ran out of the house as fast as she could, grabbing her huge blue duffel bag from the table in the hall without even pausing for a second.  
As she got further from the house she began to slow down, knowing that a teenage girl like her running down the street would attract unwanted police attention, especially in an area like this. /p  
p  
By a girl like her she meant a girl who had long waist length purple hair. For some reason the police didn't like purple hair. They weren't too keen on black miniskirts, fishnet tights and five inch heeled leather boots with red dragons on the side either. Leather bomber jackets were also on the hate list. In fact just about the only thing the police didn't mind about her was her hazel eyes. Unfortunately she was still nervous enough to keep checking over her shoulder every couple of minutes. Which is probably why she didn't have a clue what hit her.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
" Oomph!" Krissy landed in a heap on top of a large polished wood table. She looked around cautiously as she got to her feet picked up her duffle bag, swung it onto her shoulder and climbed down. As she dusted herself off self-consciously she saw that she was in some kind of canteen/mess hall, surrounded by guys who looked as if they'd just stepped out of the middle ages - swords included. Not those fake plastic ones you see young children playing with but real, deadly, metal swords that glinted dangerously in the bright sunlight that streamed in through the tiny windows. The other thing she noticed was that they were all staring at her./p  
p A boy, he looked about 18/19, stood up and walked over to her. He was quite tall with light brown hair that had natural blond highlights where the sun had bleached it and incredible green eyes that you could almost drown in. /p  
p  
"Excuse me," he said " but I was wondering if you could explain how you appeared out of thin air and landed in Joren's lunch?" /p  
p  
At this everyone seemed to snap out of a trance and started to crowd round her.   
After a moments thought she decided honesty was the best policy and replied with a very simple "No." /p  
p  
At that everyone started talking between themselves. Krissy Could only catch snatches of the conversations. But it  
was enough. /p  
p  
" Who do you think she is?"/p  
p " Have you seen what she's wearing?" /p  
p  
" What does she mean, No?" /p  
p  
" What about her hair!" /p  
p  
* O.K, that's it! I'm fed up with people talking about me behind my back!*  
" Are we all finished? I'm not deaf you know! If anyone has something they wanna  
say they can say it to my face!" * You'd think they'd never seen purple hair before! Jeez . .*/p  
p People shuffled their feet uncomfortably. Then two men maneuvered their way to the front of the crowd and pushed the green-eyed boy aside. One of them had his arm in a sling and some really nasty scars on his right side and the other one had black hair and intense blue eyes. The kind of man who created the phrase 'Tall, dark and handsome.'/p  
p " Forgive us Lady..." /p  
p  
" Krissy." /p  
p  
" Forgive us Lady Krissy, we meant nothing by it." Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome said. /p  
p  
Mr Sling and Scars turned to the rest of the group and and, " I believe you all have lessons to attend. We will discuss this later." /p  
p  
" But Lord Wyldon!" someone burst out./p  
p " Yes Merric? Did you have something to say?" he said his voice deceptively calm as he turned to glare at him.  
" Um .. no." /p  
p  
" Good. Now go."  
They all filed out of the hall muttering to each./p  
p Once they were gone, Krissy turned to the two men and asked, " So, does someone wanna tell me where I am?"/p  
p " Of course, you are in the realm of Tortall." /p  
p /p  
p  
  
  
A/N : What did ya think? I'm gonna write the next chapter whether I get good reviews  
or not but that's not an excuse to flame me. Byyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeee!!!/p  



	2. Chapter 2: You knew!

A/N: O

A/N: Hi everyone! How are ya? Told you I'd be back whether you liked it or not! But anyway, I hope you like it. Constructive critism only. BTW: Master Ivor really is their maths teacher. Do you know how hard it was to find out his name? Phew! Exhausting!

A/N: I would also like to give Addy a huge thank you as she put this in html for me because my computer is messed up. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I only own Krissy. No one else.

Chapter 2: You knew!

The pages and squires piled out of the hall whispering to each other.

Even Kel and her friends couldn't contain their curiosity.

" Who do you think she is?" Faleron asked.

" I don't have a clue but did you see her skirt?!" Owen replied.

" Yeah, and her top! It was great, you could see…" Seaver trailed off under Kel's disgusted glare " Um, I mean…um never mind."

But before the conversation could go any further Master Ivor came out to ask why they weren't in his lesson.

The gang all piled into the classroom and sat down as usual but today simultaneous equations were the last things on anyone's mind. They were all much more interested in the strange girl with the long purple hair and angry hazel eyes.

Meanwhile, Krissy was talking to the two men back in the mess hall.

" So you knew I was coming?" Krissy questioned

" Not exactly," Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome said. Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome had identified himself as ' King Jonathan' and his companion as 'Lord Wyldon'. Personally Krissy thought Tall, Dark and Handsome and Slings and Scars suited them better, though at this precise moment she could think of some other more insulting names for them.

"We knew someone was coming but not when and we certainly didn't expect you to arrive so dramatically." He continued unaware of all the names Krissy was mentally calling him.

" And this Master Nu-whateverhisnamewas can send me home?" she said, her voice dangerously calm. *He better be able to!* she thought, glaring at the two men.

Krissy's glare was bad enough normally. When you weren't finished with the bad news it was enough to make you break out into a fearful sweat.

And although Jon was a great King, he was absolutely no exception. He gulped nervously "Well, Master Numair should be able to send you home very soon. Until then you will of course have every luxury you require." He trailed off. By the look of it Krissy's glare would be the least of his worries if she got her hands on him. King or not. 

Fortunately for him just then, the door burst open and a tall gangly man about 30-ish appeared. He was broad shouldered and well-muscled with thick, longish raven hair.

"Ahh, so you're the other world visitor then?" he asked, "Of course you are! Anyway I'm Master Numair, the magic to send you home is very interesting. I was wondering,"

Krissy whirled round and marched up to him angrily pushing her face right up close to his "So you're Master Numair!" she yelled "Well you'd better figure out a way to send me home and quickly, because if you don't you'll have me to deal with!"

"Um yes," was all Numair had a chance to reply before she was off, flying in the direction of the two astonished men standing on her right. *Ridiculous!* Krissy thought *You'd think no female had ever stood up to them before! Or at least not one as young as me!*

" I'm sure you must be very anxious to get back to your family," Numair began, trying to calm things down a little. For some reason it didn't work out quite the way he planned.

"My family! Who gives a damn about my family! I have important work to do back home!" Krissy screamed hysterically, waving her arms about enthusiastically.

King Jonathan was watching Krissy carefully. As much just to watch her as to make sure she didn't whack him one. She wasn't at all what they had expected from the omens. Then again Numair never had been very good with omens, he said so himself. At least they were prepared for a female, that bit had been right. They had a good dress selection and had made sure the court ladies were prepared to take her into their circle during her stay. They'd probably have to hide her hair somehow though, he mused. Maybe Numair could do some kind of spell?

Thinking this might cheer her up (which just shows how little he knows about the female half of the population.) he broke in at the first break in her tirade and told her.

Krissy immediately turned to face Jonathan.

" Excuse me?" she said.

So Jonathan repeated himself.

" Let me get this straight," Krissy said incredulously "not only do you expect me to stay here but you expect me to sit around all day with the gossip mongers, drinking scandal brew and making idle chitchat? Newsflash mate: not happening!"

Krissy's hazel eyes were flashing and she didn't seem to notice the amused look on Numair's face.

" Now you listen here Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome! There has to be at least one girl in this whole place whose not a, a, a brainless, air headed bimbo! I'll stay with her as I obviously can't stay with the boys without ruining their virtue!" the dripping sarcasm in her voice couldn't have been missed by anything with better hearing than a block of wood.

Numair, who had been in fits since 'Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome', managed to stifle his laughter long enough to mutter, "Well there's always Keladry."

Lord Wyldon, who had been lurking at the back of the room since he'd dismissed the rest of the group, suddenly started to attention.

"What? Oh no you don't! It's bad enough having that Mindelan girl…"

He was interrupted by Krissy's quick enquiry "Who's Keladry?"

"She's training to be a knight. The first girl since Alanna. She was in here with the others. I'm surprised you didn't see her." Numair replied.

"I'm telling you, NO…" Wyldon repeated.

"Where is she?" asked Krissy, ignoring him completely.

"In class. Mathematics with Master Ivor I think."

Krissy was off like a shot, she ran out of the door, grabbed the first person she saw, a sandy haired serving boy who far more interested in her cleavage than her question and told him to take her to Master Ivor's classroom, NOW.

Kel was sitting there trying to answer the maths questions and thinking of the purple haired girl instead, when the door burst open. Everyone turned to see who it was.

It was the purple haired girl! Kel couldn't believe it! Especially when she asked "So which one of you's Keladry?"

Neal pointed to Kel and the girl walked over, grabbing an empty seat as she went. She plonked it down besides Kel and sat on it backwards. Then she stuck out her hand and said "So you're Kel. I'm Krissy, nice to meet ya. Since you're gonna be stuck with me until that Numair guy can figure out how to send me home, you might as well start giving me the update on this place. Starting with him." She pointed at Neal " What's his name and who is he? Whoever he is he's hot!" 


	3. What now?

Chapter 3: What now

A/N: Here's the 3**rd **chapter! I hope you like. I'm having a bit of trouble with the next chapter- Numair's being a pain. He just won't talk Numair-ish. If anyone thinks that they might be able to help e-mail me at [kjcfantasy@aol.com][1], Thank-you! Enjoy the story!

Chapter 3: What now?

It had been 4 days since Krissy had arrived. Kel had never been so exhausted. At this very moment she was slumped in a chair while the others waited for her to catch her breath. After Krissy had burst into Kel's maths class last Tuesday there had been absolute chaos. The King had given Krissy the room next to Kel's. He had also given his permission for Krissy to train with the rest of the pages and squires, at the time he had been looking rather nervous about something and Krissy had been glaring at him rather hard. That had seemed to be his day for giving things as he had also given Kel orders to 'look after' Krissy.

"Well, where is she now?" Cleon asked her.

"In her rooms. Ever since Joren made that remark about her never getting home. I sneaked my head round the door earlier and she was punching a pillow. Hard." Kel replied. Kel though of Joren's actual remark of "I bet you never get home, and then you'll have to stay here and live. I assume you'll be working as a prostitute. I don't see what else you could be." And wondered which part Krissy was upset about.

" Knowing how Krissy fights I'm sure it's dead by now." Owen said grinning. "Well it's true." He protested as Kel gave him a wry glance. 

The first day Krissy had come with them to practice Kel had been worried about how she'd fair. She needn't have been. Krissy's fighting technique was, original, to say the best. When she had fought Hakuin Seastone she had, how had she put it 'kicked his butt!' However you put it, she had used some moves that would of made the King of thieves himself envious.

Despite how good she was at unarmed combat, at weapons she was about as much use as a horse in the middle of the ocean. She said so herself. The only weapons she would bother with were daggers and staffs. The rest of the weapons training time she went over the unarmed combat drills and ignored The Stumps orders. 

" Do you think she'll come later?" Neal replied

"Maybe. I hope so, she's good at homework."

Krissy was also incredibly intelligent. She knew all the answers in Master Ivor's lessons and most of hem in the others. Even the Tactics and Strategy class Kel went to on Sunday evenings. In fact the only lessons she struggled with were Tortallion Law and History, for obvious reasons since she'd only ever heard of Tortall 4 days ago. In those lessons she listened attentively and made even more sarcastic remarks questioning the point of half the rules. She was eager to learn, she already had Faleron giving her extra lessons each night. Oh yes, and etiquette with Master Oakbridge. She really needed to work on those. Kel cringed as she remembered yesterday's lesson.

"What's up, Kel?" Neal asked as he saw her cringe.

" Oh, I was just remembering yesterdays etiquette lesson." Kel replied.

"You mean when Krissy told Master Oakbridge that I quote-"respect has to be earned and I don't see why I should have to waste my time learning to be respectful towards a bunch of old sexists pigs who only got their title cause their mother happened to pick the right guy to have pre-marital sex with." Faleron said flatly, with an innocent look on his face that didn't fool anyone.

"Yeah that was hilarious! You should've seen his face!" Seaver replied.

Just then the library door swung open and Krissy walked in. She was wearing trousers of a funny blue material called 'denim' (A/N: Do they have denim in Tortall?) They were frayed around the edges and had metal studs down the sides. She was once again wearing her 'dragon boots'. Today she was wearing a slightly less revealing black top, which said 'Suicide' in bold white letters across the front, covered by her bomber jacket. By now the guys were used to Krissy's clothes, which all seemed to be skintight.

" Hey Krissy," Fal said, "How're you doing?"

Krissy ignored him as she pulled up a chair.

"Hey Krissy, I know you're upset but that's no reason to ignore me. Come on we've gotta have our lesson." He said looking kinda more upset than you would of expected.

Krissy, who hadn't said a word yet, frowned. She reached to her ears and pulled something black from each ear.

"What?" she said "Fal are you o.k.? You look kinda upset."

Everyone stared at her.

"Didn't you hear what he said?" Owen asked.

"He said something? Oh, soz Fal. I had my walkman on full blast. Couldn't hear a thing you were saying." She replied.

They stared at her.

"For Christ's sake! Enough already! I hate it when you stare!" Krissy snapped, she looked about ready to storm off again. " Take a goddamned photo will you! It'll last longer!" and with that stood up to walk out.

"Wait!" Kel said, "we didn't mean to upset you."

" I'm not upset I'm pissed off!" Krissy yelled.

"Okay, sorry we 'pissed you off'. We just have no clue what you said." Kel replied calmly.

"Yeah sell us a clue will ya." Owen said trying out the phrase Krissy had taught him yesterday.

Then it was Krissy's turn to stare. "You're telling me that the 'mighty Tortal' hasn't invented walkmans yet?" she asked incredulously. "Oh God, am I gonna have fun with this!" Then surprising them all she jumped up and ran out of the door, her purple hair streaming behind her. She glanced back over one shoulder and yelled, " I'll be back!"

A/N: So what did ya think? You can use that lovely little box at the bottom of the page that ff.n kindly provided to tell me. I'd really appreciate it. Thanx!

   [1]: mailto:kjcfantasy@aol.com



	4. What have you done?

Chapter 4: what have you done?

Disclaimer: All characters except Krissy belong to TP.

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up but my house got hit by lightening and it fried my modem. Honestly, it's the truth I swear it. Anyway thanx to Sulia who was a big help to me with this chapter. You're the best! I hope you like this so I'll leave you to get on with it.

Chapter 4: What have you _done_?

Krissy was ecstatic, finally something she could do and they couldn't! * Wait, that's not fair. They don't act like they know it all. I just have to learn not to be such a jealous cow. * she thought * Besides I kinda like 'em. * Kel was cool, though they really needed to work on her fashion sense. She smiled slightly as she remembered Kel's face when Krissy had shown Kel her 'wardrobe'. Then again Krissy had looked the same at the sight of the ball dresses. * My God but they were awful, all ruffles and bows and well… urgh! * A soft look passed over Krissy's face for a moment as she remembered * Jordan had always used to tease her about… NO! * Krissy cut herself off angrily. She wasn't going to think about Jordan! She wasn't going to think of him back home wondering where she was, tearing his hair out, sending out people to search for her even though he knew it wasn't safe, * No! You don't have the time to think about this stuff Kris. Remember you have to be strong, there's no time for weakness in this life, there's no time for fun either. *

She arrived at her room quickly, and shaking her head to clear it of the tears she could feel forming behind her eyelids, she entered, grabbed her duffle and started back to the library. *Stop being depressing. Think about teaching Tortallians music, it's gonna be so funny it might actually keep me sane. *

Meanwhile Kel was thinking of Krissy. It was weird the way she hated being stared at, though Kel thought she could understand. 

"What in Mithros' name is a walkman?" Merric said.

"I've got it!" Cleon yelled, jumping up and down excitedly " It's a man who walks!"

Neal gave a long-suffering sigh and quietly inquired " And where exactly is the 'man' in the walkman?"

"Oh, yeah." Cleon replied.

Krissy returned just then breaking up the conversation.

"Oh good you're still here. So who wants to go first?"

Nobody spoke.

"Um, Kris, what _is_ a walkman?"

Krissy blinked.

" Oh yeah, I forgot you didn't know. Well okay, gather round and I'll show you how it works. We can all listen anyway 'cause I brought my plug in speakers to use with Jordan and the guys."

Faleron who was watching Krissy closest was the only one who noticed the shadow of pain that passed over her face as she mentioned Jordan * Did she care for him?* he wondered bitterly, his thoughts tinged with jealousy* Did she love him?* 

Krissy fiddled with some, what looked like black pieces of string before she turned and said, "This is what a walkman does." Suddenly the library was filled with music. If you could call it that by Tortallian standards. 

The words

" I want you all tattooed,

I want you bad. 

Complicated, x-rated,

I want you bad, bad, bad, bad, bad." blasted out.

It made the walls vibrate and the Tortallians cover their ears. Krissy just grinned. 

"So whatdaya think? It's offspring, off their new album Conspiracy of One. This one is my fav. Well along with Papa Roach, I'll put that on next. Why are you wincing?"

"Don't you think it's a little um, loud?" Faleron asked.

" What do you mean a little? It's nearly deafening me!" Cleon responded.

"Take a chill pill Cleon," Krissy said "I'll turn it down."

"Good."

"How did you do that?" Neal asked.

"Easy. Look I'll show you."

Krissy then launched into a complex explanation about all the different buttons, how to put CD's in and the headphones and speakers. Then she stood back and watched carefully as they experimented with her most prized possession. They discovered their favourite songs. Neal liked 'Teenage Dirtbag', Faleron loved 'Last Resort' like Kris, Kel preferred the 1st one – 'I want you bad ' and on it went until Yancen of Irenhoa came in looking for a book on 'Scanran battle tactics.'

This reminded everyone of their homework and everyone went back to studying except Cleon, who as he was a squire and only here with Inness for a couple more days, carried on listening to the Wheatus album on the headphones.

Faleron was just explaining the latest Tortallian law " Now you see, Jon decided, well actually it was Thayet but anyway, that everyone should have the chance to go to school so they made it the law that you go."

"That's the same in my world. Of course nobody pays much attention to it. We just skip school and go round the tennis courts and over the fence…" but Fal never got to hear what you did next because at that point Numair burst in saying 

" I did it! It's simple really; now that I think about it I don't know why I didn't see it before! You just reverse the polarities of the inter-dimensional quasi-semantic polars so that they match up with the portal's time index! Demanith the Bound-walker did something similar with his portal to the Realm of the Gods. It's quite interesting actually, you see Demanith used an isometric…"

Daine who was leaning against the doorframe watching Numair broke in at this point to say smiling 

" Numair, although I love you, will you please shut up. Nobody has a clue what you're on about including me & they don't want to hear about Demanith the Bound-walker or whoever else is on the list you're about to start."

Neal looked about to interrupt.

" You can just be quiet too Mr. I understand and I'm about to start a list of my own." Kel said.

Numair was looking rather startled "Oh," he said, "Well in that case, um I guess you better pack your bag, Krissy."

"Why? Where are you taking me?" Kris asked suspiciously.

"Home of course. I just told you that."

"Yes!" Krissy yelled, punching the air in delight. She grabbed her bag off the table and snatched her walkman out of Cleon's limp grasp. Then she yelled 

"I'm ready. Lets do this. See ya around maybe guys – I'll miss ya."

A black glow appeared round Numair's fingers.

"Goodbye Krissy." He said.

"Oh no you don't!" boomed a voice from the behind them. It hurt their ears the same way the golden light that streamed from the armoured man hurt their eyes.

"And who the hell are you?" Krissy demanded, her eyes shining as brightly as the man, with the anger of someone so close to their heart's desire only to have it snatched away. And something else, a kind of painful desperation, a need so fierce that it can't be denied. " I _need_ to go home!" * Oh please, don't do this, it's killing me!*

"I'm Mithros. And you're not going home yet. WE brought you here and WE will decide when you leave. There are important lessons for you to learn."

"No! I have to go home! I have to! They'll die! I won't stand by and let that happen! I won't! Send me BACK! SEND ME BACK!" Krissy exploded. She was screaming at the top of her voice, attracting people who wanted to know what was happening. Krissy seemed oblivious to the stares that normally would of drove her crazy. She was so caught up in her pain that she didn't even notice the tears streaming down her cheeks. * I've lived my whole life being the strong one, the one who's taken charge and made everything right.* she thought desperately* Even when doing that hurt me. But how can I do that when I'm not there. Even here, I was the strong one; I never let it show how much it hurt. I know that I'm making a fool of myself but it's tearing me apart. Cause if I'm not the one who's so strong, the one who always gets her own way, the one who solves everyone else problems, _who am I_? And how can I help them, when I can't even help myself?*

Kel stared on in amazement at the state of Krissy, someone who was normally so cool about things.

Mithros looked at Krissy and almost as if he'd heard her desperate thoughts he sighed.

" Very well. It will not be so easy there, but the lessons must still be learned. So I will send the teachers with you. Now."

The brilliant golden light surrounded Krissy and then Kel and some of the other pages. It seemed to glow even brighter for a second and then they were gone. Daine turned to Mithros.

"What have you _done_?"

A/N: What did ya think? I've been really nervous about this so please review. As always no flames please. Byyyyye!


	5. The Return.

The return

Disclaimer: Everyone you recognise belongs to TP. Everything else is mine.

A/N: Hi everyone, it's been a while since I uploaded so I hope you haven't all forgotten me. Anyway I'm going on holiday for 2 weeks soon so I've written my longest chapter ever to keep you going. I'm gonna try an upload a really short 6th chapter as well but no promises on that one. I'm gonna use my holiday to get in some serious writing so I should be uploading pretty soon once I get back. Pleeeeeeeeeease, r/r so I have lots of reviews when I get back. Enjoy!

A/N 2: Oh yeah and huge thanx to all my reviewers – you're incredible all of you!

Chapter 5: The return.

The first time Mithros had transported Krissy it had been very fast. So fast you almost didn't notice. But this time it was excruciatingly slow. Krissy watched in amazement as Tortall transformed into a swirling mass of florescent colours, kind of like a giant walkthrough kaleidoscope. Krissy figured that it was probably so slow because Mithros hadn't been backed up by the rest of 'them' or maybe it was because she was being sent away from him instead of to him so it took more effort. *Or maybe,* she thought sarcastically *maybe it's just me going absolutely mad.* 

Slowly the tunnel she was in seemed to end and Krissy landed in a heap on a freezing cold, hard floor. Last time the transportation had barely affected her but now her whole body ached, she felt tired and basically like she wanted to sleep for a week. 

When she had just about dredgedup enough energy to open her eyes she heard screaming, quickly followed by something (or several somethings) landing heavily on top of her. The fact that the pile on top of her was wriggling and groaning made her realise that the pile was a pile of people. *So I will send the teachers with you* she remembered *Mithros.*

"Uuunnhhh." Someone moaned.

Krissy struggled to drag her self from under the pill.

"Kris? Is that you?" a familiar voice asked.

"Jordan?" Krissy whispered, trying to raise her head and look around but collapsing instead. 

" Kris are you okay?" the voice insisted " Oh God, what've they done to you? How did you get in here?"

"Not them, they're friends." Krissy croaked through her dry throat, "Look after them. I'm dead on my feet – I have to sleep. Please, Jordan?"

The voice turned sympathetic and cool hands lifted her head onto a lap. "Of course you can sleep now. You're here with me and you're safe. We'll take care of you and everything will be fine. I won't let anybody hurt you. Not ever. I promise."

"Everything will be fine." Krissy repeated weakly before the world went black and she gladly slipped into the darkness of peaceful oblivion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sound pricked at her consciousness 

"Who do you think they are?"

"I haven't got a clue but we'll know soon enough I guess."

"Yeah, Ella said she should wake up later today and the others tomorrow."

"Do you think they're the ones who got Krissy this way."

"Jordan said not." The first voice pointed out.

"Yeah but he also sent people to guard them." Voice number 2 replied.

"I suppose."

The voices receded and she retreated back into the enveloping darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A teenage girl with long chestnut hair that reached the small of her back, was rummaging on the highest shelf. The shelf was full of bottles and boxes and plastic carrier bags.

"What're you looking for?" Krissy asked.

The girl jumped nearly out of her skin, knocking half the stuff on the shelf over. 

"Kris! You're awake!" the girl squealed "How are you feeling? I should go get Ella." 

"Rocket, calm down. You can get El in a minute. Now did she by any chance give you anything for my throat?"

"Oh! Of course. How could I of forgotten? She said she left it by the bed and that you were to drink all of it. I'll come and help you."

"No it's okay Rocket. I'm not an invalid you know."

" Oh, I didn't mean to imply… I mean I… um.." she stammered.

" I know what you meant." Krissy said smiling.

She turned and saw a cracked mug filled with a clear liquid that smelt like lemons sitting there. *Yep,* she thought *I'm definitely home now* She casually scanned the rest of the room as she took a sip of the drink.

"Blurrrghhh! This stuff's awful! It's like drinking mud!"

Rocket giggled. "Good. It'll serve you right for giving us such a fright. And you have to drink it – Ella's orders." 

Krissy made a face and looked at the mug. Then she necked it all at once.

"Urgh! Oh yuck! Man that's awful!"

"Glad to know you appreciate my potions, Krissy." Someone said from behind.

"Ella!" Krissy jumped up and ran over to her to squeeze her tight.

"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too." Ella said laughingly. 

Then Krissy let go and hit her gently on the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?2 Ella demanded.

"Making me drink that sludge."

They started laughing together but Ella quickly sobered up and whispered

"Krissy, what happened? Where did you go? Who are those people you were with?"

"Were with?" Krissy echoed "Where are they now?"

"In another room – it's bigger."

"Is that the only reason?" Krissy asked suspiciously 

"N-o," Ella admitted "Jordan also thought it was easier to watch them there. He's had the guys take turns at watching them."

Krissy snorted in disgust.

"Kris," Ella begun "What were we supposed to do? We didn't know what connection they were to you, whether or not they were dangerous. As a matter of fact we still don't know!"

"Are they still asleep?"

"Yes, they'll probably wake up later today or tomorrow. And don't change the subject dammit!" she spoke angrily and was waving her hands about violently. "Kris stop evading the question – I need to know – _what happened?_ We were worried sick about you. Jordan hasn't slept in days for worrying about you, trying to find you and then when you came back he was hovering around you constantly, bugging me about 'was I sure you were okay?' and'when would you wake up?' "

A soft look passed across Krissy's face.

"He should've known I can take care of myself," she whispered "He needn't have worried."

"Needn't of worried? Krissy he worries about you constantly. As in all the time. Telling Jordan not to worry about you is like telling him not to breath. Impossible!" 

"I'm sorry, El. I don't mean to be a pain but I'm just not sure if you'd believe me." She said calmly, "And you don't have to worry about Kel and the gang,"

"Who?" 

"The people I was with." Kris clarified.

"Oh. Kris, I…"

"Ella I wanna see them."

"What, now?" Ella said startled.

"Yeah. Please El, it's important."

Ella considered it for a minute. She gave Krissy a sideward glance, then sighed and said "Okay, but anyone asks I'm totally blaming you."

Krissy chuckled "Deal."

Ella led Krissy out of the room in silence. Down the long walkway that went round the building, and off into a corridor. She stopped in front of a room Krissy had always known as an empty storeroom.

"A storeroom? You put them in a storeroom?"

"It was the only place big enough." Ella replied defensively.

The she turned to the two guards. They were both tall burly guys with mousy brown hair, brown eyes and bushy eyebrows. A blind man couldn't have missed the fact that they were brothers.

"Hi Mike, hi Matt. Krissy and I need to visit the new people."

"Ella you know what Jordan said – nobody in nobody out. That's why you left your little potion thingy for them."

"Oh come on Matt. Kris says they're safe. And really nice. It's really important." She wheedled.

"Safe? Yeah they may be safe but I wouldn't say they were nice exactly. Not unless your idea of nice is as weird as their fashion sense."

Krissy frowned, "How would you know anyway?"

"One of them just woke up that's how. And he's definitely not nice." Mike said.

"He woke up? When? Let me past. Now Mike. I wanna see who it is." *It can't be Fal,* she thought *nobody could ever say he wasn't _real_ nice.* 

Mike interrupted her musings.

"No Krissy. I already told you once."

"Mike I'm not in the mood. Let me past." 

He wavered for just a second and Krissy pounced.

"Thanx Mike. You won't regret it." She said as she slipped past him. Krissy opened the door quietly and glanced around quickly, taking note of everyone she saw. *Who'd Mithros brought with her?* She mentally checked people off when she saw them. *Kel, check. Neal, check. Merric, check. Where is he?*Just then she saw him out of the corner of her eye lying unconscious on a makeshift bed like the others *Faleron, check.* she thought.

"Looking for someone?" came a scathingly familiar voice from behind.

*Oh no! Not him!*

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in, finally deigned to join us then?" he said.

Krissy turned and looked at the boy standing in front of her. The face was just as familiar as the voice.

"Shut up pretty boy. Your long blond hair and baby blue eyes aren't gonna save you here. You're in my world now Joren."

"Yeah well, we'll see."

Krissy just glared, turned her back on him and stormed out.

A/N: You like? Use the little box and review! 


	6. Explanations.

Explanations

A/N: Okay, hi guys. I know it's been a while since I last posted and I'm sorry. Time just got away from me. Anyway this isn't very long but I hope you like it anyway. Even if you don't can you please review anyway to tell me what's wrong. _Please_? I just wanna know if anyone is actually even reading this or if I just shouldn't write anymore. Okay? Thanx.

Disclaimer: Anyone you recognise belongs to TP. The rest are mine.

Chapter 6: Explanations.

SLAM!

"Joren! Of all the bloody people for Mithros to bring here!"

"Kris, what on earth's the matter?" Ella asked.

"Joren. That's what's the matter. It's also the name of the jerk in there!"

"Kris I thought you liked these people. You told us they were your friends."

"They are! All except Joren. He is the most obnoxious thing I have ever met. Why he's here I'll never know."

"You brought him here Kris, you can't complain now."

"Oh, you don't understand! I didn't pick who came- Mithros did."

"Who? I really don't get this."

"Yeah Krissy, I think you owe both of us an explanation."

"Jordan!" she yelled launching herself at him and clinging round his neck like a limpet.

"I missed you so much Jordan," She whispered.

"Me too, me too." He replied as he put his arms around her to pull her close in a tight embrace.

Pressing her face into Jordan's shoulder Kris inhaled his scent barely able to believe it was really him. She revelled in the feelings that swamped through her. *I'm home. Everyone's safe. Nothing can go wrong now. And best of all Jordan here.* She sighed. As much as she liked that fantasy she knew that's all it was-a fantasy. There was plenty that could still go wrong. Plenty that could still hurt everyone around her.

Jordan gave her an extra hard squeeze for a second before letting her go to look deep into her eyes.

"Now how about those explanations?"

Krissy stared right back at him for a minute before she looked away and sighed.

" Okay, but I doubt if you'll believe me."

"Try us." Ella replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't believe it." Ella said gob smacked.

"I _knew_ it!"Krissy said.

"Are you telling us the absolute truth here?" Jordan questioned.

"Of course!" Krissy said indignantly. "When have I ever lied to you about something like this? About nicking all of the soft centred chocolate – yes, something like this – no."

"Okay – don't get your knickers in a twist – I believe you." Jordan said holding up his hands.

"Don't get cocky with me Mr!"

"Kris, that doesn't explain about that guy though." Ella said. 

"What guy?" Jordan asked narrowing his eyes, "Did he touch you? If he did I'll kill him." He started to get up and head for the door.

"Oh sit down. He didn't lay a finger on me. I would've kicked him so hard he wouldn't have been able to have kids if he had. He's just a jerk with a big insulting mouth. Nothing I can't handle."

Jordan still looked unsure.

"Oh for God's sake Jordan! Even if he had touched me I lived with an abusing father for 15 years didn't I? I could've handled it! I don't need you going round like a complete Neanderthal threaten' to break everyone's knees with a crowbar!" Kris retorted angrily.

Jordan looked away and said softly "I'm sorry."

Kris sighed, "I forgive you."

"Well now you two have finished your touching 'kiss and make-up' scene can we get back to the parallel dimension thing?"

Kris and Jordan ex-changed a glance.

"What? What is that look about?" Ella's voice started to rise "_Guys?_"

Jordan and Krissy pounced on her tickling her to death.

"Stop! _Oh_, stop it! Jordan, cut it out!"

The three of them collapsed in heap, giggling like the school kids they were.

"Okay." Ella said, "I believe you too."

"Good."


End file.
